For Immediate Release
February 25, 2008 USA Badminton Women's Team Advances to Uber Cup Finals With Team Victory at the 2008 Pan American Uber Cup Qualifier COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-The USA Badminton Women's Team has advanced to the 2008 Uber Cup Finals with their team victory at the 2008 Pan American Uber Cup Qualifier in Campinas, Brazil. The Uber Cup Finals will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 11-18, 2008. The USA Badminton Women's Team defeated Peru 4-1, Brazil 5-0 and Canada 3-1 to win the event, earning the ticket to the Uber Cup Finals. The victories are also helpful in terms of World rankings, which is the system used for determining Olympic qualification. For any U.S. women to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, they will likely need to stay ahead of their counterparts from Canada in the world rankings. Olympic qualification will be determined based on final World Rankings on May 1, 2008. On the men's side, the event is called the Thomas Cup. The USA Men's team did not fare as well, finishing second in the four team event. Canada earned the ticket to the Thomas Cup Finals. The USA men lost to Canada 0-3, but defeated Peru 3-2 and Brazil 4-1. Representing the United States of America in 2008 Thomas and Uber Cup Pan American Qualifying Event in Campinas, Brazil were: Women: Eva Lee
Mesinee"May"Mangkalakiri
Lauren Todt
Jamie Subandhi
Kuei-Ya"Joanne"Chen
Panita Phongasavithas
Vimla Phongasavithas
Rena Wang Men: Howard Bach
Khan"Bob"Malaythong
Raju Rai
Chris Hales
Daniel Gouw
Arnold Setiadi
Ted Shear Head Coach: Zi Min Cai For more information, please contact Cecil Bleiker, United States Olympic Committee NGB Services Manager at 719-866-4608. This press release is also available on the USOC's media specific website at www.usocpressbox.org.